It is with a heavy heart that we share that our Lakeside Joint School District parcel tax Measure J did not pass. The Santa Cruz County Registrar of Voters certified their part of the election late this afternoon.

The final results are:

Santa Cruz County

Yes on Measure J - 403 votes - 65.11%

No on Measure J - 216 votes - 34.89%

Santa Clara County

Yes on Measure J - 198 votes - 65.56%

No on Measure J - 104 votes - 34.44%

Overall Percentage: 65.26% voted Yes, which falls short of the required 66.67.

In other words, if 13 of the No votes had been Yes votes, Measure J would have passed.

We are grateful for the support of the community. An overwhelming 65% of our community said that Measure J was a priority and that the Lakeside Joint School District should continue to operate with robust instructional programs for students.

The Governing Board appointed an Ad Hoc Committee to explore options moving forward, since Measure J did not pass. A team of two board members, two Lakeside staff members, and a few community members and parents are meeting to bring forward a recommendation for next steps. During that process, broader community input will be sought to determine the future of the Lakeside Joint School District. We will continue to communicate our process and opportunities for community members to give feedback.

The Governing Board has a regular scheduled board meeting on Wednesday, July 13th at 6 pm. At that meeting, an agenda item will be presented with a board discussion around options. The Ad Hoc Committee may have a recommendation at that time. We welcome you all to join us at the board meeting and at Town Hall meetings that will be scheduled to gather a broad range of input on the future of Lakeside.

The Measure J campaign was valiantly led by an amazingly dedicated group of leaders. I’d like to personally acknowledge all of the parents, community members, and students who crafted ongoing messages, designed signage and shirts, recruited and supported road captains, hosted letter writing campaigns, led phone banks, held street meetings, chaperoned lemonade stands, and conducted the most positive outreach campaign that our students deserved.

A special thank you goes out to our Parcel Tax Committee leaders:

Sara Anderson

Maria Daane

Cynthia Gingerich

Michael Gull

Les Niles

Vicki Perkins

Matt Price

Maritza Tamayo-Sarver

We continue to be committed to providing high quality programs to all of our Lakeside students and look forward to welcoming them back on the first day of school - Thursday, August 18th.